Key dates in Baltimore Ravens history

Nov. 6, 1995: Browns owner Art Modell, angry with Cleveland cityofficials over the failure to approve a new football stadium, says he can'tstay financially afloat in Cleveland and announces his intention to move thefranchise to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Design work again begins on afootball-only stadium to be built at Camden Yards.

Dec. 24, 1995: The Browns finish the season with a 5-11 record after a24-21 loss to Jacksonville. The team loses 10 of its last 12 games, includingseven of eight after reports of the team's move surface.

Feb. 15, 1996: Ted Marchibroda, who had coached the Indianapolis Colts tothe AFC championship game in 1995 and who coached the Baltimore Colts for fiveseasons in the 1970s, is named new coach of the Baltimore franchise.

March 29, 1996: The team is officially named Ravens after a telephone pollconducted by The Sun. Of 33,288 votes, 21,108 pick Ravens, 5,597 chooseAmericans and 5,583 select Marauders.

Nov. 24, 1996: The Jacksonville Jaguars defeat the Ravens, 28-25, on afield goal with 5: 54 left in overtime at Memorial Stadium. It was the Ravens'second loss to Jacksonville and their fourth overall, dropping their record to3-9.

Dec. 12, 1996: Quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who would finish the seasonwith 4,177 passing yards and 33 touchdowns, is named to his first Pro Bowl.

Dec. 22, 1996: The Ravens end their first season in Baltimore with a 24-21loss to the Houston Oilers at Memorial Stadium. The team finishes 4-12 and hasthe worst defense in the NFL.

May 15, 1997: Cranes begin to place the large concrete busts of theseating deck as the stadium bowl begins to take form.

July 9, 1997: Work begins on the stadium's brick facade. Owner Art Modelland offensive linemen Orlando Brown and Wally Williams help lay the firstbrick. More than 100 bricklayers would use 1.2 million bricks to build thefacade.

July 14, 1997: Ravens begin their second training camp in Westminster, asthe team steadily begins to get its own identity. Free agents Tony Siragusaand Michael McCrary are signed to help shore up the defensive line. Of the 80players reporting for camp, only 18 are former Browns. One player missing isholdout Peter Boulware, the club's first-round pick.

Aug. 16, 1997: Just before a preseason game in Philadelphia, the Ravensannounce they have agreed to terms with Boulware on a six-year contract worth$18.5 million, including a $6 million signing bonus. Boulware does not playagainst the Eagles.

Aug. 31, 1997: The Ravens open their second season with a 28-27 loss tothe Jacksonville Jaguars before 61,018 at Memorial Stadium. The team hadrallied from a 14-0 deficit to tie, but the comeback ended in the final minutewhen Vinny Testaverde's fourth-down pass to Michael Jackson was ruled a trap.

Dec. 11, 1997: Offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden is named to his first ProBowl as a starter. He is joined by fellow second-year player Ray Lewis, whowould lead the NFL with 210 tackles. Lewis was selected as an alternate andwould play in the game.

Dec. 14, 1997: The Ravens edge Tennessee, 21-19, before a sellout crowd of60,558 in the final NFL game at Memorial Stadium. Several ceremonies are heldat the game, including salutes to former Baltimore Colts and members of theArmed Forces.

Dec. 21, 1997: The Ravens lose, 16-14, to the Bengals in Cincinnati to endtheir season with a 6-9-1 record, including 1-4-1 in games decided in the lastquarter.

Jan. 1, 1998: The first seat is installed at the new stadium. Over thecourse of the next seven months, more than 69,000 purple, plastic-molded seatswould be attached to the seating bowl, and on each isle is the bust of aRavens logo. Also, the first air-conditioning units are installed into thesuite and press levels.

Jan. 12, 1998: Running back Bam Morris, the team's leading rusher in 1996and '97, is given a 120-day jail sentence in Rockwall, Texas, for violatingterms of his probation for a 1996 marijuana possession conviction.

Jan. 27, 1998: After an eight-hour meeting among front-office personnel,coaches and scouts, the team announces it will not re-sign Morris. The teamsays instead that it is might pursue 37-year-old quarterback Jim Kelly.

Feb. 20, 1998: Seventy-thousand square feet of SportGrass, a blend ofsynthetic and real Bermuda grass, begins to be pulled out of Memorial Stadiumand placed onto the Memorial Stadium parking lot. The grass would betransplanted to the new stadium, saving the project $1 million by using thesame turf.

Feb. 20, 1998: Five-time All-Pro cornerback Rod Woodson, after beingreleased by the San Francisco 49ers, agrees with the Ravens on a four-yeardeal worth $11.5 million, including a $3 million signing bonus.

Feb. 26, 1998: Free-agent fullback Roosevelt Potts agrees to a one-yearcontract with the Ravens, after stints with the Indianapolis Colts and Miami
Dolphins.

April 18, 1998: The Ravens' conduct their third NFL draft, selectingcornerback Duane Starks with the 10th overall pick and wide receiver Patrick
Johnson in the third round.

May 9, 1998: Three hundred people try out for the Ravens' firstcheerleading squad at Towson Center. After two days of tryouts, the field isnarrowed to a 20-person stunt team and a 22-person dance team.

June 2, 1998: After months of speculation that he would be released,quarterback Vinny Testaverde is waived by the Ravens before the start ofminicamp.

June 13, 1998: One-hundred thousand square feet of SportGrass is laid atthe new stadium, more than half of it taken from Memorial Stadium.

June 15, 1998: The Ravens conduct a dry run of the new stadium'sscoreboard, playing the movie "Space Jam" across one side and Ravens seasonhighlights across the other.

June 26, 1998: Workers begin the process of aiming 612 field lights on thelight towers.

June 27, 1998: The Ravens send 60 of their 2,000 game-day personnel to theDisney Institute in Orlando, Fla., to take a crash course in guest service.

July 4, 1998: The Baltimore Colts' Band makes one of its final appearancesunder that name at area Fourth of July parades. The band would change its nameto Baltimore's Marching Ravens on Aug. 8.

July 14, 1998: The Ravens' organization moves into the new stadium'soffices.

July 15, 1998: More than 600 fans participate in a "Super Flush" at thenew stadium. As a test of the septic system, fans flush and run the stadium's1,074 toilets and 668 sinks simultaneously twice. The event receives nationalattention.

July 21, 1998: The Ravens begin their third training camp in Westminster.First-round pick Duane Starks and center Wally Williams are holdouts.

July 21, 1998: A final census is completed, showing the stadium has 69,426seats, about 1,000 more than planned. The discrepancy is due to variations inconstruction.

July 30, 1998: The stadium is unveiled to the public for the first time,as a crowd of 36,016 shows up for an open house. Ravens players also test outthe facility, conducting an hourlong practice.

Jan. 26, 1999:PSINet Inc., the first and largest independent commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP), announced an innovative partnership with the Ravens to develop a global Internet-based network for the Ravens that will significantly enhance outreach between fans and the team, as well as establish a new business model for sports marketing. Under the 20-year agreement, the NFL's new downtown stadium at Camden Yards was named PSINet Stadium.

Feb. 4, 1999:Art Modell, Owner and Chief Executive Officer of the Baltimore Ravens, named David Modell as the Ravens' President and Chief Operating Officer and John Modell as Vice President of Special Projects.

Sept. 12, 1999:Brian Billick's debut as head coach was spoiled in the regular season opener, as the St. Louis Rams defeated the Ravens 27-10 in the TransWorld Dome. Little known QB Kurt Warner, who went on to become the league's MVP, threw three TD passes in his first NFL start.

Sept. 26, 1999:Billick notched his first win as an NFL head coach, 17-10, over the expansion Cleveland Browns. Stoney Case started at quarterback, replacing Scott Mitchell.

March 27, 2000:NFL owners approved the sale of 49 percent of the Ravens for $275 million to Anne Arundel County business executive Stephen Bisciotti. Bisciotti has an option to purchase the remaining 51 percent for $325 million in 2004.

Jan. 28, 2001:The Ravens defeated the New York Giants, 34-7, to capture their first-ever World Championship in Super Bowl XXXV played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. Ray Lewis was named Super Bowl MVP and only Ron Dixon's 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown averted a shutout for the Giants. A Super Bowl record was set when three touchdowns were scored in a span of 36 seconds, including Duane Starks' 49-yard interception return and Jermaine Lewis' 84-yard kickoff return.

Jan. 30, 2001:Over 200,000 people turned out on a cold, gray, rainy day to attend Baltimore's Ravens Victory Parade. "This is the thrill of my life," exclaimed owner Art Modell.

July/August 2001:The Ravens opened training camp as defending World Champions under the scrutiny of the entire nation, as HBO's "Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Baltimore Ravens" debuted with the Ravens as the feature team.

May 15, 2002:The Ravens and McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College) announced a three-year contract extension to keep Ravens training camp in Westminster, MD through the 2004 season. The team has trained at the Westminster campus since the 1996 inaugural season.

Nov. 25, 2002: Ozzie Newsome named general manager of the team, becoming the first black GM in the NFL.

Oct. 2004: Ravens move into a new $31-million training complex in Owings Mills. The state-of-the-art facility sits on 32 acres and features three outdoor football fields, the NFL's largest weight room, 32-inchhigh-definition televisions in nearly every room and a full-length indoorpractice field.